Silent prayers: An appeal goes out at the Wembley cup final

In the meantime, at least one senior detective from Portugal's Policia Judiciaria has arrived in the UK in the past few days.

Leicestershire police confirmed yesterday that a PJ police inspector was at the county's incident room and liaising with officers.

Four-year-old Maddy's parents, Kate and Gerry McCann, both 38, live in Rothley, near Leicester.

It is believed that among the properties Portuguese police want to search is the former marital home of chief suspect Robert Murat, 33, which is currently being used by his estranged wife Dawn and the former couple's daughter Sofia, four.

The semi-detached property in the Norfolk village of Hockering has been guarded by uniformed police all week - despite Mrs Murat fleeing the address and staying with a friend.

A source from the Policia Judiciaria - leading the hunt for Maddy who was snatched from the McCann's holiday apartment in Praia da Luz - disclosed the new moves.

He said: "I can confirm there are some searches planned in England. I hope they will give something to the rescue.

"I know that there are PJ officers who have gone to the UK."

It was also revealed that at least one of the numerous searches in Portugal has involved a police diver - although there were no details on where or what he was searching.

Meanwhile, an estimated global TV audience of 450million saw a two-minute film clip of Maddy, entitled Find Madeleine, which was also played at Wembley before Chelsea beat Manchester United 1-0 in the FA Cup Final.

The 90,000 crowd fell silent as haunting images of the kidnapped toddler, against a soundtrack of the Simple Minds hit Don't You Forget About Me, filled the two huge screens at either end of the pitch.

The same film was shown at the Uefa Cup final in Glasgow between Espanyol FC and Sevilla earlier this week, and is part of the McCann family's determination to keep her in the public eye in the hope that someone comes forward with information.

More than 75 million people around the world have expressed their support for the missing youngster by visiting the website www.findmadeleine.com.
The McCanns have produced a diary of one day in their struggle to find their daughter. They also released touching new photographs of them with their twins.

The diary is another aspect of their quest to retain a semblance of normality for Madeleine's younger sister Amelie and brother Sean, who are twins. The family have vowed to stay in the Algarve resort until Maddy is found.

The hunt took a new twist when a Norwegian woman who lives in Spain said she was "99 per cent" certain she saw Maddy while on holiday in Morocco.

Madi Pollard called police after overhearing a blonde girl ask a British man at a petrol station in Marrakech when she could see her mummy.
The girl had an English accent. Mrs Pollard, married to a Briton, said: "She looked very sad."

Meanwhile, Suspect Mr Murat's German girlfriend Michaela Walczuch has broken her silence to insist: "Robert is innocent.
"He had nothing to do with this. He was only trying to help out and find the little girl. He has been treated terribly and doesn't know why."